There were 34 players who could be criticised.
Woeful rugby from both teams.
You can't polish a turd so a game to forget and no point in highlighting individuals just to wind people up.

As good a summary as we're going to get.

imo gotta give gale a game,cant do no worse and but bateman where he belongs in the pack,cudjo to centre

Anyone thinking Luke Gale is the answer is crazy.

This is why international RL just doesn't 'do it for me'. The fans of the smaller clubs slate the players who play for the proper sides (only gets picked because he plays for Wigan etc).

On the other side the fans of the big sides always single out guys from rival teams I.e Wigan fans slate Hardaker whilst Leeds fans pick Williams etc.

RL, imo, is the best game in the world because of its rivalries. State of Origin, Wigan vs Saints, Leeds vs Saints are all rivalries to match anythingin other sports have to offer. A divided England vs Kiwis hasn't got that and never will.

Stick to club rugby as it's where the passion and excitement is.

I agree with you re Williams and he will be a very good international player when he as started to fully develop and gets a few more international games. But how bad he was overall is nothing to how shocking in attack Hardaker is taking into account he is the current MOS. In 2 games has created nothing. Defence is solid but in the modern RL a FB has to get into the line and take it on or create space for players. He runs the ball back well but when the side needs to create something he has been found out at this level.

Williams should not play next week but if Tomkins was fit neither would Hardaker. Hall and Burgess on the wings are getting nothing as neither centre have a sniff of creating anything. Watkins is a class centre and he can break a game open. Unsure re Bateman he is very good second row but international centre I am not convinced. Maybe Hardaker is the answer for that position as an International FB in attack he is the wrong player.

The gameplan was the problem, not the ability of the players. Bash it up the middle, Bradford Bulls style, and without the good kicking game to make that dull but effective. So it shackles our offloading forwards, allows the NZ defence to set themselves easily every time, and the halves get no space and the threequarters get no ball. Hard for any players to shine when they've been told to play like that.

Hardaker did not shine last week either so that really does not solve the FB issue does it given how good England was last week in attack.

England weren't *that* great in attack last week! We were heavily reliant on a few lovely touches from George Williams to spark something. Today Williams had a very poor game, and the lack of threat from anyone else, especially Widdop, was telling.

Been on a few of other sites and one general consensus is that our half backs were exceptionally poor which I don't disagree with but the solutions offered or should I say solution is Gale which in itself probably may be effective but I won't hold my breath.
For me our attack was far too slow from the first minute and never got out of first gear. Roby must start next week and play the full 80 minutes. Hodgsons place could go to Gale or Williams to at least have something on the bench as an alternative if things don't go well. The obsession with four forwards on the bench strangles any alternative plans plays into the hands of a team who can only play it down the middle with little or no flair.
We are not a great team but the coach needs to let the team play with a faster tempo and take the shackles off.
I would play Cudjoe next week and replace Whitehead with Bateman and put Gale or Williams on the bench. It wouldn't make us into world beaters but should still be enough to turnover a poor outfit.
It's not new forwards or half backs that we need it is for me simply to play the game at a much faster pace. I've seen some bad NZ teams over the years but this is the worst by a country mile and if we can't beat them then it will be an awful indictment of our game.
I genuinely can't recall an international game as slow as today and I fully expect a totally different approach for next week. The forwards will turn it around next week and even if the half backs are not much better it will still be good enough to beat a pedestrian team.
Whatever the result a new coach is required or the next 4 nations could be embarrassing in the extreme. There are at least 3 better English coaches waiting for the call who would improve what is on the whole quite a decent squad that needs less coaching but requires encouragement to express themselves and learn to believe in themselves more.
I will have my money on England next week and if he plays Williams for MOM. I just hope that now we have a what is effectively a cup tie to win the series both teams up the ante.